Service Pack 3 for Vista, yep, I got it!

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I got really curious to see what would happen if I changed that CSD reg setting to "100" unlike the "300" I had and the "200"you had. The system now reads SP1 but still has no effect on its inability to update to the newer SP2 patch....I requested an "SP1" disk at the suggestion of Vistaar but I dont think Ex_Brit has one since he provided me with the link to the SP2 disk again....I'm not wanting to do a complete service restore with the built in repair/restore partition because...the restore partition will also take out my dual boot partition that has Windows 7 on it...restore is not an option.

Since you have already crossed the Rubicon into the registry, I would change the value to "200" for SP2 and retry repair install using Vista SP2 ISO. Early pages of Vista ISO download suggest there was a Vista SP1 ISO, but early pages are 7 years old. Since you have a Windows 7 key, what I would really suggest is making this laptop entirely Win7 (you mentioned a desktop running Vista SP2 in post #3, so you wouldn't be completely without this dearly beloved OS). After all, Win7 is the real "Service Pack 3 for Vista."

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I guess I never gave entering 200 a second thought after learning from Imacri about HAL. He did write that my HAL indicated SP1. Just wondering what effect changing HAL along with 200 value could have? . Trial and Error here we come!

Im giving Imacri credit to this quote the homemade way because I havent figured out how to use the singular quote function in this forum without quoting the entire post.. ..and 5 minutes to figure it out during an edit isnt enough time for me or it would be a mess. I can change reg settings but cant use quote settings

Imacri said:
"The CSDVersion in your registry seems to show you have Service Pack 3 (0x00000300) but your CSDBulidNumber shows you have the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) for Service Pack 1 (18000). See the article HAL Versions - Vista SP1 should have build 6.0.6001.18000, while Vista SP2 should have build 6.0.6002.18005"

UPDATE: Just tried to changing changing 200 value but still not able to upgrade to SP2. I get this:

Will try changing HAL entry now to 6.0.6002.18005 from 6.0.6001.18000 and see if that changes things. If you don't hear back from me it means the system failed to boot.

UPDATE 2: Changed both values but but no success in being able to upgrade to SP2 after rebooting Same screen with upgrade disabled)

Last edited: Mar 28, 2019

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Since you have a Windows 7 key, what I would really suggest is making this laptop entirely Win7 (you mentioned a desktop running Vista SP2 in post #3, so you wouldn't be completely without this dearly beloved OS). After all, Win7 is the real "Service Pack 3 for Vista."

Yaay think I got the quote thing figured out!
Regarding the laptop making it entirely windows 7? I could but prefer not to since I'm a bit of a nostalgia buff, and like original things, ie, cars, architecture, history, and yes even old computers. I'm pre-occupied with the past a lot, and my finances have suffered for it, since there is no future in the past, did I just say that?

OP has already said "restore is not an option," so this thread is probably nearing its conclusion...

There was no known reason to think SP2 was ever installed - unless you clearly recall doing so before the installation became ruined (in which case I'm sure Imacri would like to know whether any security updates for Windows Server 2008 SP2 were ever installed on the laptop, and I would like to know up to what month). If SP2 was in fact never installed, then it seems rather odd that you waited 10 years before seeking a solution. It's astonishing that there is nothing in Installed Updates. In my case, Installed Updates includes updates that were part of the November 2007 factory image, although all subsequent updates date back only to a factory restore that I performed 4 years ago due to issues that were far less seriousthan yours. It occurs to me that you may have deleted the factory image partition, or perhaps expanded it to allow for your dual boot with Windows 7. Even if there is a factory image, it might be irreparably corrupt after all these years. A good use for your Vista partition might be a backup image of your Win7 partition, which isn't going to last forever either. Windows 7 is also well on the way to becoming a thing of the past you know.

Obviously you could attempt a repair install with value "100" if you haven't already tried that, but there is no reason to be hopeful. I would imagine that Firefox might work on this installation as is, but I have no idea what security software might work. I wish you the best of luck.

... One other thing I've failed to mention throughout all of this, is that sfc /scannow isn't working for me in windows OR after pressing F8 on bootup and entering "Repair Your Computer" mode. I repeatedly get "Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation."...

The WMI Diagnosis (WMIDiag) tool mentioned in Scott at G2G's solution might also be useful. A Vista-compatible v2.2 tool can be downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center <here> and there is information about this tool in the MS TechNet article WMIDiag 2.2 is here!. I ran an older version of WMIDiag v2.0 when I was troubleshooting a recurring WMI error logged in my Event Viewer back in 2009. This tool doesn't repair WMI errors but I found the diagnostic report was quite helpful in locating a missing file that I was able to copy and paste into the correct folder. Post back if you'd like me to look for a user guide for you if you need help interpreting the report.

I'm not sure what else to suggest at this point if you don't want to perform a factory recovery (or clean reinstall) because of your Win 7 partition and you can't run a repair installation using the ISO you received from Ex_Brit. I doubt small tweaks to your registry or a net localgroup Administrators command are going to be the "magic bullet" that solves all your problems.

If you need a fresh set of eyes to look at this, you might want to post your WMI Diagnosis report along with the results of your other troubleshooting steps in BleepingComputer's Windows Crashes and Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Help and Support board. See Moderator hamluis' post <here> with instructions for running a MiniToolBox diagnostic and publishing a Speccy snapshot (including the URL linking to that snapshot) in your first post. I wasted days trying to fix a Windows Update error in 2011 that was caused by the corruption of permissions in my Windows registry (many of my registry keys lost their permissions for the Administrator user group after a failed Windows Update) and the person helping me in that board was able to point me in the right direction.
-----------32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.9.0 * Norton Security Deluxe v22.15.1.8 * MS Office Professional 2003 * Speccy Portable v1.32.740

The WMI Diagnosis (WMIDiag) tool mentioned in Scott at G2G's solution might also be useful. A Vista-compatible v2.2 tool can be downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center <here> and there is information about this tool in the MS TechNet article WMIDiag 2.2 is here!. I ran an older version of WMIDiag v2.0 when I was troubleshooting a recurring WMI error logged in my Event Viewer back in 2009. This tool doesn't repair WMI errors but I found the diagnostic report was quite helpful in locating a missing file that I was able to copy and paste into the correct folder. Post back if you'd like me to look for a user guide for you if you need help interpreting the report.

If you need a fresh set of eyes to look at this, you might want to post your WMI Diagnosis report along with the results of your other troubleshooting steps in BleepingComputer's Windows Crashes and Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Help and Support board. See Moderator hamluis' post <here> with instructions for running a MiniToolBox diagnostic and publishing a Speccy snapshot (including the URL linking to that snapshot) in your first post. I wasted days trying to fix a Windows Update error in 2011 that was caused by the corruption of permissions in my Windows registry (many of my registry keys lost their permissions for the Administrator user group after a failed Windows Update) and the person helping me in that board was able to point me in the right direction.

Somehow this is ringing vaguely familiar to me from years ago when I first got this machine and tried updating.. I remember control panel taking forever to load and sometimes it would just freeze. At its release in 2006, Vista required decent processing power for a time when a lot of people (including myself) were still running first gen pentiums and 486's for XP and even Win98'ers. Undoubtedly, this oversight contributed to the ranting and raving from its misunderstood user base...
But I'll head over to BC and see if there is any info there that can use...many thanks Imacri for your tireless persistence in trying to help me get this machine updated. I do feel that after that registry change that we are a step or two closer to resolving it. I will keep in touch.

I assume that a system error 1378 for your net localgroup command is a good sign and means that the built-in user NetworkService is already a member of the Administrators group.

I've attached a user guide I still have for my old WMIDiag v2.0 tool that explains the type of output this tool can generate. I had to convert the file from a .doc to a .pdf to attach it to this post but it's still readable (if somewhat overwhelming in the level of detail). To run the tool in default mode I think you just download v2.2 of WMIDiag.exe from the Microsoft Download Center <here> and save it to its own folder, run it to extract the necessary files, and then double-click WMIDiag.vbs to start the analysis.

I'll review this thread over the weekend and if anything you've posted to date jumps out at me I'll post back and let you know. Be sure to post back if you have any other questions.
----------32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.9.0 * Norton Security Deluxe v22.15.1.8 * MS Office Professional 2003 * Speccy Portable v1.32.740

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I do have one. Should I be able to have the option to run the script at an elevated command prompt? When I left click on the file I dont see the option to run it as administrator, just wondering if that would affect the accuracy of the tool?

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I do have one. Should I be able to have the option to run the script at an elevated command prompt? When I left click on the file I dont see the option to run it as administrator, just wondering if that would affect the accuracy of the tool?

Do you mean the WMI Diagnosis tool? I don't think it matters when you run the downloaded WMIDiag.exe (all this does is unpack the required files in the folder where you save the file), but when you start the tool by double-clicking WMIDiag.vbs you need elevated Administrator rights. From the user guide I attached in my previous post: "You must be a full administrator to run the WMI Diagnosis Tool. Under Windows Vista you must be an elevated Administrator."

The instructions in the MS TechNet article WMIDiag 2.2 is here! are easier to follow than the .PDF user guide I attached in my previous post. If double-clicking the unpacked WMIDiag.vbs file doesn't work when you're logged in as an Administrator (see my comments below about how slow this diagnostic runs), try the following - I tested today and these instructions worked on my Vista SP2 machine:

Double-click to unpack WMIDiag.exe and copy WMIDiag.vbs to the root C:\ directory.

Open an elevated command prompt (the title bar should say "Administrator"), move to the root C: directory (command cd c:\) or wherever you copied the file, and enter the command WMIDiag.vbs as shown below to run in default mode. You should see a pop-up telling you that the analysis will start in 40 sec and that the script will run silently in the background - click OK to start the diagnostic. Nothing will appear to happen in the command prompt - you will need to enter the command cscript WMIDiag.vbs if you want to watch the script run; enter cscript WMIDiag.vbs checkconsistency if you want to check the respository consistency.

Go for a cup of coffee (seriously) and come back in 10 or 15 minutes.

Open Windows Explorer and type %TEMP% in the location bar to open the folder where the output is created. In my case %TEMP% is located in the hidden folder at C:\Users\<myusername>\AppData\Local\Temp.

You should see three files in the hidden folder C:\Users\<yourusername>\AppData\Local\Temp that end in .TXT, .CVS and .LOG. They will originally have a size of 0 bytes and when the analysis has finished the .TXT report should be about 25 KB and the .LOG file (which you can open in Notepad or some other text editor) will be about 2 or 3 MB in size.

...I have no idea what caused this. The CSDVersion in your registry seems to show you have Service Pack 3 (0x00000300) but your CSDBulidNumber shows you have the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) for Service Pack 1 (18000). See the article HAL Versions - Vista SP1 should have build 6.0.6001.18000, while Vista SP2 should have build 6.0.6002.18005. From the System Information on my Vista SP2 computer, which matches what I see <here> in my own registry...

...And yes also, I was referring to the post 2017 updates available with Windows Server 2008. I use them religiously for another desktop I have, also running Windows Vista Home Premium with SP2. I havent had the problems on that one as I've had with my Gateway....

This is a bit off-topic but I thought I'd mention this since you're installing the Windows Server 2008 updates on your desktop (i.e., not the Gateway laptop with the mysterious Service Pack 3). I just noticed some posts on page 17 of Jody Thorntons's MSFN thread Server 2008 Updates on Windows Vista about recent Windows Server 2008 updates (KB4489887 or later Monthly Rollups) that have changed the build number from 6.0.6002.xxxxx (Build 2) to 6.0.6003.xxxxx (Build 3). This is a deliberate change by Microsoft - see the support article Build Number Changing to 6003 in Windows Server 2008.

The KB4489887 Preview Rollup wasn't released until 19-Mar-2019 (and you should still have Service Pack 2 on your desktop even after your build number changes to 6003), but that Microsoft support article notes that there could be issues with applications or scripts that are "dependent on the version string '6002' as an identifier for 'Windows Vista SP2' ". At least one user posting in Jody Thorton's MSFN thread has reported some system instability after the April 2019 Monthly Rollup for Windows Server 2008 was applied to their Vista SP2 machine.
-----------32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.9.0 * Norton Security Deluxe v22.152.22 * MS Office Professional 2003 * Speccy Portable v1.32.740